The increasing demand for strong, dimensionally thin, and light products in consumer electronics has generated renewed interest in finding materials that can meet all these criteria. Where transparency is also desired, glasses have filled many of these criteria. In the case where opaque materials are desired, glass ceramics have been found to have at least some of the necessary attributes. For instance, opaque white and black glass-ceramics, such as white beta-spodumene glass-ceramics, are currently being used in smartphone housings—however, there is growing consumer demand not only for a larger variety of colors, but for the ability to pattern the structures as well.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to be able to design glasses that can be selectively cerammed to provide patterned regions of opaque glass-ceramic. In addition, such glass/glass-ceramics should still be able to be chemically by ion exchange and/or thermally strengthened to allow for use in applications where strength is critical.